A New Dawn
by the Azbaban Dreamer
Summary: It is November 1981 and many strange and mysterious things have been happening up and down the country. In a rickety house called the Burrow, Molly Weasley was too overworked by her seven children to notice. Until her husband, Arthur came home with news that changed everything.


Harry Potter belongs to J.K Rowling.

* * *

There was a damp chill lingering in Ottery St Catchpole that evening and the villagers noticed many strange and mysterious things happening during the day.

Owls were flying in broad daylight and many strange people were walking about dressed in funny cloaks and gathering on street corners, speaking to each other in hushed voices.

Some of the locals passed these people off as tourists dressed in Halloween costumes, but there was an incident in the village square where a strange man dressed in a black cloak vanished into thin air.

The local landlord suggested that too many pints may have been consumed, but witnesses were adamant that they had seen the man vanish right before their eyes and arguments raged over whether the witnesses were sober or not.

Yet across the village, none of that seemed to matter. Over a clump of trees stood a very odd building that none of the villagers had seen in a long time. What once was a stone Pigsty, now stood a very tall, very odd, very rickety house.

To the untrained eye, it looked as if it would topple over due to its lopsided appearance and there was no way that the local Council would ever grant planning permission to such an unstable building.

Yet the Burrow was used as a comfortable, cosy home for a family of nine wizards and at that moment there was a ruckus in the living room.

"Mummy, Fred and George have my book!" five-year-old Percy Weasley cried as the three-year-old twins charged around together.

"We got book, we got book, we got book," they chanted.

"Fred, George, that book doesn't belong to you dears, that's Percy's," Molly Weasley said, trying to take the book but the twins were too fast. The twins ran, giggling as they carried Percy's book between them but soon stopped as the book was snatched out of their hands.

"Thank you, dear," Molly sighed gratefully to her eight-year-old son, Charlie as he handed Percy back his book and Percy retreated to an opposite end of the living room, throwing the twins a reproachful look.

"Now you two can sit down and play some games," She said to the twins. "There's plenty of things you could be doing. How about you play a game with Charlie? I'm sure you'd enjoy that."

She went to take a step back, but Charlie shouted out.

"Mum, watch out!"

Molly looked down to see one-year-old Ron around her feet, trying to extract a Toffee Apple that was stuck to her robes.

"Oh, Ronnie dear, what have you done?" She asked softly, picking up the baby and unsticking the Toffee Apple from her robes. "It's all dirty now. Let me clean it for you."

She sat Ron down in an armchair and withdrew from her apron, a long thin, wooden wand which she tapped the Toffee Apple with. The bits of dirt vanished instantly.

"There you go," She said kindly to Ron, whose little face lit up at the sight of his beloved Toffee Apple looking so clean. "You sit there with it, dear and I'll come and wash you when you've finished."

She passed the Toffee Apple to Ron, who let out a squeal of delight as he took it and began licking it again. The sight of Ron looking so happy made Molly smile. Of all her children, he appreciated her cooking the most.

There was the sound of a baby crying, causing Molly to tear her eyes away from her son.

"Ginny's due for a feed," She sighed. "Percy dear, could you fetch me her bottle for me?"

Percy obediently bookmarked his page and ran to collect Ginny's bottle and Molly scooped her tiny daughter up and rocked her gently, singing softly to her, causing her cries to subside. Percy ran back with the bottle, giving it to Molly.

"Here you go, Mummy," He said, looking up at her innocently in his oversized glasses.

"Thank you, dear, you were very quick," Molly smiled at him and watched as he puffed his chest out in pride.

Molly fed Ginny the bottle as Percy sat watching her, asking her questions about Ginny which she answered.

Once Ginny had been fed, Molly put her down again and ten-year-old Bill came in, looking very sombre. Molly thought he was going to report something that he had heard on the wireless which he had been listening to all day.

"Are you alright, Bill?" Molly asked, looking at his face which was unusually pale. "You should stop listening to that wireless, dear. It's enough to worry anyone silly these days and you're too young to be worrying about all of that."

"Dad's late," Bill said gravely. "He should've been home by now."

The atmosphere in the Living Room changed considerably as Charlie and Percy looked at Bill worriedly. Even Fred and George picked up on what was happening and fell silent. Ron however, was still engrossed eating his Toffee Apple and took no notice as to what was happening.

Even though Molly loved Bill so much, she felt deeply irked that he would spend all day listening to the wireless. He seemed to feel that the weight of this war rested heavily on his shoulders. But he was much too young!

Why couldn't he be more like Charlie, who was more carefree and happy to help with the de-gnoming or otherwise fly on his broom? Sometimes, Molly thought that Bill was _too _mature for his age.

"He's been quite busy at work lately, dear," Molly said soothingly. "What with everything going on out there, the Ministry needs all the help it can get."

"But he's never been this late," Bill said, frowning. "Do you think he's been attacked? Or is it something to do with all the rumours we've been hearing on the Wireless about You-Know-Who?"

"What? Dad has been attacked?" Charlie asked gaping at Bill in horror.

"He _could_ be," Bill said grimly. "It's dangerous out there despite the rumours flying around."

Charlie went pale and Percy looked close to tears.

"Mummy?" he asked, tugging at Molly's robes. "Is Daddy coming home?"

Molly didn't know what to say; She wanted to shout at Bill for worrying Charlie and Percy, but she knew that he was worried and that shouting at him would make things worse. Instead, she smiled and patted Percy on the shoulder.

"Of course your father's coming home, boys," She said softly. "He's probably just been very busy today."

Just then, there was a clicking sound and Molly and the boys jerked their heads around to the family clock to see Arthur's hand moving from '_Mortal Peril_' to '_Travelling_'. Molly let out a sigh of relief.

"Your Father's coming," Molly said to the boys. "See? I told you he'd be home."

Molly couldn't help smiling as Bill, Charlie and Percy looked relieved and with squeals of delight, Fred and George got up and both ran to the kitchen as Arthur's hand moved with another click to '_Home_' and then back to '_Mortal Peril_' before there was a shout in the kitchen.

"Daddy!" chorused the Twins and Molly heard Arthur greet them before coming into the living room carrying the pair of them who once again, looked very happy.

"What a day," Arthur said wearily as he put Fred and George down. "It's been hectic, Molly. _Hectic. _I've been out all day trying to get wizards to stop celebrating, but far too many of them were too excited. In the end, we had to modify a lot of the muggle's memories. There was this one lad, Mundungus Fletcher. He tried to hex me when I had my back turned. Thankfully, he got taken into custody. Hello boys."

Charlie and Percy both ran up to Arthur and hugged him briefly.

"I thought something happened to you dad," Bill said, frowning as Arthur sank into his armchair with a groan. Ron, who was still licking his toffee apple noticed Arthur and squealed with delight as he got off the sofa and ran towards him.

"Hello, Ronnie, what's that you've got?" Arthur asked his youngest son who was still holding onto his half-eaten toffee apple which was dangerously close to sticking to the armchair.

Molly quickly extracted the Toffee Apple from Ron's tiny hand before more damage could be done. Ron looked confusedly at the hand which he was holding his toffee apple and then to Molly.

"Look at you, Ronnie," Molly said softly. "You're all sticky. Let's save this for another day. You could do with a wash, young man."

"And I could finish your Toffee Apple," Arthur said. "I've hardly had anything to eat all day."

"Your dinner's in the oven, dear," Molly said, trying not to chuckle at the reproachful look Ron sent Arthur. "Charlie could you fetch your father his dinner, please and whilst you're at it could you fetch a wet cloth for Ron? We don't need any sticky faces here tonight."

Charlie ran off to the kitchen and Molly looked at Arthur again. He looked exhausted. His glasses were askew and his robes looked dishevelled.

"What's been going on, Arthur?" She asked him. "Bill's been getting worried about you being so late. He thought you had been attacked."

Arthur gave Bill an apologetic smile as Charlie came through with a plate of Cottage Pie for Arthur and a wet cloth for Molly.

"Oh, that looks lovely," Arthur said, looking longingly at his dinner as Charlie passed him his cutlery and handed the wet cloth over to Molly who turned to Ron and began gently wiping his face and hands. "I'll tell you later, Molly. No use worrying the younger boys."

As Arthur tucked into his Cottage Pie, Molly took the opportunity and got the boys and Ginny washed, dressed and tucked Percy, Fred, George and Ron into bed.

Because Bill and Charlie were the eldest two, they were allowed to stay up longer than the other five.

Molly also had Ginny with her instead of having her in her cot. She found that Ginny settled down quicker for the night when she was with Molly.

When the boys came back into the living room ready for a mug of Hot Chocolate, they saw that Arthur had finished and his plate lay empty on the coffee table.

"I'm sorry that I've been so late tonight, Molly," He said. "Things have been hectic and the current climate hasn't helped things. I've been pulled off my regular job and have been out trying to stop any magical disturbances, but its' been impossible. There was even a report of someone apparating in the village square."

"Is it to do with all the rumours, Dad?" Bill asked at once.

"You've been listening to the Wireless, then?" Arthur asked Bill with a smile.

"He's been glued to it all day and has been driving himself mad with worry," Molly said.

"Is it true that there have been Dragons flying about, Dad?" Charlie asked eagerly.

"Not now, Charlie," Bill muttered irritably. "What_ has_ been happening, Dad? There's been Shooting Stars up in Kent, the Owls flying in broad daylight for the Muggles to see, the rumours about You-Know-Who."

Bill paused, watching Arthur who took off his glasses and cleaned them.

"There were a lot of rumours on the wireless," Bill said hesitantly. "And you mentioned that wizards were celebrating. Are the rumours true, dad? Has You-Know-Who finally disappeared?"

There was such a profound silence in the living room as everyone looked at Arthur. Even Charlie was interested and Molly wanted to know if the rumours were true.

"Bill, Charlie. Molly," Arthur said, putting his glasses back on. "I think it's best if you sit down. What I'm going to tell you is going to be a bit of a shock."

Molly sat in her armchair with Ginny, her stomach bubbling with anxiety and a sense of forbidding welling up inside of her.

"Boys," Arthur said, addressing Bill and Charlie. "Last night on Halloween, when we all had that apple bobbing party, You-Know-Who set out to Godric's Hollow, looking for the Potters. He found them and I'm afraid that he killed them."

There was a stunned silence and Molly felt as if the world had stopped. She didn't know the Potters, but she was aware of what they did to help fight You-Know-Who and his crazed supporters.

"James and Lily?" She gasped. "The young couple who helped evacuate that village full of Muggles about to be attacked by You-Know-Who?"

Arthur bowed his head solemnly.

"I'm afraid so," He said heavily. "May their souls rest in peace."

"But what about their son?" Molly asked panickedly. "They have a son the same age as Ron. Surely he hasn't- He's not- He didn't _kill_?"

Molly hugged Ginny close to her, tears welling in her eyes. So young. The Potter's son was so young and the most disturbing thing was that it could've happened to _any _family in Britain. It could happen to _them_. Ginny was just born in August and Ron is the same age as the Potter boy. The thought of her children being ripped from her like that made her go cold.

"No, Molly," Arthur said, looking strangely excited. "This is where it gets interesting. You-Know-Who didn't kill the boy. The boy survived, Molly. He lives! But that's not all. You-Know-Who's powers somehow broke and he's disappeared. Completely disappeared. He's gone, Molly."

Molly wondered if she were dreaming. You-Know-Who gone at last? This felt simply too good to be true.

"Is he dead?" Charlie asked in a hushed voice.

"Some in the Ministry seem to think so," Arthur said. "But Dumbledore doesn't. He told Millicent Bagnold that he thinks that You-Know-Who is still out there somewhere."

"But what about the boy?" Molly asked. "If he's not dead, what's going to happen to him? Who will look after him? We haven't got much room but I'm sure we could manage if we- "

"Dumbledore's people got there first, Molly," Arthur said wearily. "He's been taken to his Muggle relatives. They're the only family he has. There's a rumour going around that he's got a nasty scar on his forehead. Dumbledore seems to think that he'll have it forever."

"How could a baby beat a wizard like You-Know-Who, Dad?" Bill asked. "Of all the Aurors who could stop him, why does it have to be a baby?"

"I don't know, Bill," Arthur sighed. "It's a complete mystery. Although some in the Ministry seem to think that the boy has powers that we don't have, but it's just speculation. We may never know."

"That boy is going to be famous," Molly said quietly. "Mark my words, every witch and wizard will know his name. No wonder Dumbledore sent him to live with Muggles- The poor dear- He wouldn't be able to go out in public without people giving him constant attention."

"He's being called The Boy who Lived," Arthur said. "There are a lot of wizards touting him as the saviour of the wizarding world."

"But he's just a baby," Molly said. "He's the same age as Ron for heaven's sake and he's just lost his parents."

"James and Lily will _never_ be forgotten, Molly," Arthur said. " The Ministry's considering placing a statue of them in Godric's Hollow. They are even going to preserve the cottage that they had lived in. It's badly destroyed but it'll be a monument to the Potters."

The idea didn't sit right with Molly, but the realisation of what had happened had finally hit her and she felt dazed.

"This is the first time in eleven years that our community can finally experience some peace," she said faintly. "All those deaths; the Bone's, The McKinnon's, Fabian and Gideon, they'll be a thing of the past and we can finally move past all of the killings, all of the violence. You'll be able to go to Hogwarts knowing that you'll see us again at Christmas, Bill."

"Would I be able to study Dragons, Mum?" Charlie asked.

"You and your bloody Dragons," Bill muttered but grinned nonetheless.

"Of course, dear," Molly said, beaming at Charlie with fondness.

"This is a new age for us, Charlie," Arthur said, stretching and getting out of his seat. "A new dawn. Some of You-Know-Who's supporters have already been rounded up and many people have come out of trances. A lot of changes are about to happen and many for the better. Anyway, it's late and I'm exhausted. Let's get you two some Hot Chocolate before you go to bed. "

Arthur made his way into the kitchen whilst leaving Molly with Ginny and her thoughts.

Molly looked down at the sleeping baby in her arms looking so peaceful. Ginny has a great future ahead of her. A future free of the violence and intimidation that plagued the last eleven years.

But there was someone who wouldn't grow up knowing his parents. Her thoughts went back to Harry Potter. His parents were cruelly ripped from him and she wept silently for the boy who would never know his parents and held onto Ginny, vowing to protect her children.

"It's going to be okay, Mum," Charlie said quietly. "You-Know-Who's gone."

"I love you all so much," Molly said tearfully, setting Ginny down and engulfing Charlie in a bone-crushing hug. "I hope you know that."

"Course we know that, Mum," Bill said, hugging Molly as well and Arthur came back into the living room carrying two steaming mugs of Hot Chocolate for Bill and Charlie who both let go of Molly.

"I think we should both have a special drink," Arthur said, giving Molly a significant look. He made his way to the drinks cabinet and poured them both a liberal amount of Old Ogden's Firewhisky.

"Let's toast," Arthur said in a hushed voice, handing Molly her Firewhisky. "To Harry Potter- the Boy who Lived."

Molly and the boys copied him, their voices hushed as well.

Molly clinked her glass with Arthur's and she drank, the Firewhisky searing her throat as it went down. As the whisky warmed her stomach, Molly felt for the first time in eleven years a spark of hope for the future that seemed to fill every part of her body.

She felt as if a balloon had inflated inside of her and she hadn't felt this happy for a long time.

Molly and Arthur both shared a hug and Molly felt very grateful to her Husband. She was relieved that he was home safe. She had been getting rather worried herself when Bill was reporting the rumours from the Wireless.

There was a loud crunching sound and they all turned to see their hands on the family clock move from_ 'Mortal Peril' _to _'Home'_. Molly shared a hug with her family. The danger had passed. They were safe.

The Weasleys weren't the only household toasting Harry Potter. Up and down the country, wizards and witches were gathered around in their living rooms toasting the downfall of Lord Voldemort and the survival of the Boy who Lived.

Asleep on the doorstep of Number Four Privet Drive, with a letter addressed to Mrs Petunia Dursley clutched in his tiny hand, Harry Potter had no idea how special he was at this very moment.

* * *

Thank you for reading.


End file.
